New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns has defined the season for the team.

That declaration was made before the ball even tipped for the season when the Knicks traded for Towns from the Minnesota Timberwolves ahead of the start of training camp. Luckily for the Knicks, they look like the winners of the deal as Towns has enjoyed one of the best seasons in the league.

CBS Sports writer Brad Botkin placed Towns at No. 7 in his ranking of the top 25 players in the NBA so far this season.

“Towns has been incredible for the Knicks from Day 1 in New York,” Botkin writes.

“It took him a brief moment to figure out his place within a deep starting five in terms of shooting volume and overall offensive aggression, but that’s a mere footnote to a season that has seen his average 25-plus a night and over 13 rebounds (second only to the Kings’ Domantas Sabonis) on superb 53/44/84 shooting splits. Towns can score from anywhere, either as the floor-spacing shooter for which the masses know him most well, or as a closeout attacker and/or post punisher. Towns’ five 40-point games tie him with Giannis and Anthony Edwards for the third most in the league.”

The only players ahead of Towns in the rankings are Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, new Dallas Mavericks big man Anthony Davis, San Antonio Spurs injured center Victor Wembanyama, Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and three-time MVP and Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic.

That’s some pretty big company for Towns to be included in, so the Knicks certainly lucked about by acquiring him at the right time in his career.

Adding Towns raises the Knicks‘ ceiling, but they have some work to do in the second half of the year as they sit behind the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference standings.

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